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Friday, October 8, 2010

Stuffed bell peppers was one of the first meals I ever made...actually, it was the first meal I ever remade, straying from the exact recipe and making my own changes to make the dish healthier. Although most of my changes are now forgotten, I do remember one as switching from a combination of ground pork and ground beef to lean ground turkey (ground beef could work but just try to make it at least 90% lean). I have no idea where the recipe was originally from but on the index card, I have the title as "Big John's Stuffed Bell Peppers." Maybe Big John wouldn't be so big if he had made some of these updates! It's delicious as a one-dish meal and is a recipe that I keep coming back to. It's especially good now that bell peppers are in season here.

As I was making my farmers market grocery list for this coming week's meal plans, I realized that I'm using just about every vegetable that our market offers. While I didn't do it on purpose, I'm happy to fully take advantage of having such a variety of fresh vegetables while I can!

-Make sure to cook brown rice beforehand.
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-In a large pot of boiling water, boil prepped bell peppers for 5-7 minutes until peppers are fairly soft. Drain on paper towels and then put peppers in 9 by 13 baking dish. Add water to the bottom of the baking dish until the bottom of the dish is barely covered.
-While bell peppers are in boiling water, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and cook garlic, onions and peppers tops until soft, 5-7 minutes.
-Add ground turkey, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Cook until brown and all pink is gone, about 5 minutes. Drain off extra grease.
-Add brown rice and marinara sauce. Combine and remove from heat.
-Spoon mixture into bell peppers. Cook for approximately 15 minutes. Add grated cheese, if desired, on top and cook for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
-Serve with additional marinara sauce.